Trump to deliver primetime address as polls suggest some voters are souring on his presidency
U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address to the country Wednesday evening as polls suggest his popularity has slumped in recent weeks as persistent cost-of-living challenges turn some voters off his presidency.
“It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump posted Tuesday on his social media platform as he announced the address.
“I look forward to seeing you then.”
Trump, who promised on “Day 1” to “end inflation and make America affordable again,” has struggled to follow through on that commitment.
Federal data shows inflation is stuck at about three per cent while health-care premiums have soared and are expected to go even higher, barring a congressional breakthrough on extending federal Obamacare subsidies.
Trump steps out of the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
Polls suggest about two-thirds of Americans surveyed disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy — an issue many voters cited when casting a ballot for him last fall. The latest unemployment data, released Tuesday, shows the economy added 64,000 jobs in November.
By comparison, Canada, which is roughly nine times smaller by population, added 54,000 jobs in the same month — a sign that the country’s economy seems to be holding up in the midst of Trump’s trade war, which experts say has in fact pushed prices up for American consumers and businesses, filling federal coffers but delivering few of the promised jobs.
In fact, the U.S. economy shed more than 100,000 jobs in October, many of them in manufacturing.
According to recent data from the Center for American Progress, 58,000 net U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since April, when the Trump administration announced its “reciprocal” tariffs, ostensibly to boost jobs in the sector.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters the president will speak Wednesday night “about the accomplishments over the last 11 months, all that he’s done to bring our country back to greatness.”
He will also touch on what he “plans to do to continue delivering for the American people over the next three years.”
People shop for groceries at a store in Port Washington, N.Y., on Nov. 19. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
In an interview with CBC News, Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and Trump State Department appointee in his first term, said the president has to be mindful of the economic challenges many voters face right now when he speaks from the White House.
This is not a time for just happy talk, Bartlett said. Trump has to reckon with the pricing pressure people are enduring this holiday season.
“A lecture to the American public about how great things are, I would caution against that,” Bartlett said.
People are feeling the pinch when buying groceries, paying their bills and shopping for holiday gifts.
‘Economically painful’
“It is politically and economically painful. If the president is trying to dissuade Americans from feeling the pressure, it will be to his own detriment,” Bartlett said.
Trump could use this address to remind cash-strapped voters they could be in for a bigger tax return next year thanks to his One Big Beautiful Bill, which slashed taxes for some but also made cuts to some federal health programs.
The Republican-controlled ways and means committee, which is responsible for spending bills, has estimated a family of four with a household income below $100,000 a year will save about $600 in taxes.
Trump has repeatedly teased the idea of sending one-time $2,000 rebate cheques to some families, a potentially huge outlay that could be funded in part by the billions of dollars collected from his sweeping global tariffs.
Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
“Next year is projected to be the largest tax refund season ever, and we’re going to be giving back refunds out of the tariffs, because we’ve taken in literally trillions of dollars,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting last week.
“And we’re going to be giving a nice dividend to the people, in addition to reducing debt.”
Trump floated rebate cheques earlier this year when his then lieutenant Elon Musk was cutting federal employees as part of his leader at the Department of Government Efficiency — but those payments never materialized.
Trump could also address his administration’s efforts to blow up Venezuelan boats supposedly carrying drugs to the U.S., a campaign that has already resulted in more than 100 strikes, with some 25 people dead.
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, said the president is intent on hitting those targets until the Venezuelan president “cries uncle,” a comment some have interpreted as a desire to force regime change in that country, which is ruled by Nicolas Maduro.
WATCH | Chief of staff speaks frankly about Trump:
Trump’s chief of staff criticizes administration in rare profile
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles spoke frankly about U.S. President Donald Trump and other members of his administration in rare, candid interviews with Vanity Fair. Wiles said Trump ‘has an alcoholic’s personality,’ and called Vice-President JD Vance a ‘conspiracy theorist.’
Bartlett said some in the president’s MAGA base are growing antsy over a potential conflict.
“This went from drug interdiction to gas seizures to regime change to a notion of ousting Maduro to bring democracy to Cuba. This seems incredibly convoluted, runs counter to the ‘peace president’ persona and the notion of ending wars.
“There are some lingering questions there that I think many Americans are alarmed about and would hopefully expect more clarity on the situation,” said the Republican strategist.
